Convertible tablets may not be singing to the same tune as the Apple iPad ($699 direct, ) slate tablet, but they have a big fan base in the sales force, healthcare, and other vertical markets. The HP EliteBook 2740p ($1,880 direct) is a solidly-constructed tablet, even though its basic look hasn't changed in years. Besides having a full-size keyboard, outstanding battery life, and multitouch screen, the 2740p is now one of the most powerful convertible tablets, thanks to a standard voltage Core i5 (or Core i7) processor. Like its predecessors, though, the 12-inch screen falls short in the brightness department.

Design
The 2740p's aluminum body has withstood the test of time, and why shouldn't it? It's sleek and built on all the EliteBook principles, highlighted by the scratch-resistant aluminum surface, magnesium alloy base, and a spill-resistant keyboard (now with a draining hole on the underside of the system). Its ruggedized characteristics are similar to those of the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet (Multitouch) ($2,000 direct, ), as both are subjected to a subset of military torture tests. At 3.9 pounds, the 2740p is the lightest convertible tablet compared with the Lenovo X200 Tablet (4.2 lbs) and Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 ($1,859 direct, ) (5 lbs). Though, attaching the additional slice battery (6-cell) brings the weight up to 5.1 pounds.

There are many components to the 12-inch widescreen. It swivels 180 degrees to cover or expose the full size keyboard. The Wacom-enabled screen, plus the digitized pen, which is stored in the back of the unit, can take advantage of Windows 7's handwriting recognition engine. You can use the pen to navigate as you would with a mouse, or simply press a finger (or two) against the screen, as the display now supports multitouch. The numerous touch gesturespinch, zoom, scrollworked as beautifully as they did on the Lenovo X200 Tablet and Fujitsu T5010. It helps, too, that they all use the same touch components, except the other two tablets have brighter screens. Frankly, it felt like the 2740p's screen was several brightness levels short of looking as illuminated as the Lenovo X200 Tablet and Fujitsu T5010. It was on the cusp of looking washed out, especially under a bright light or outdoors. An outdoor display is available as an option, but it won't support touch.

All the keys are interconnected and full sizeimpressive on a 12-inch system, but not unparalleled. The Lenovo X200 Tablet and Fujitsu T5010 also have full-size keyboards and typing experiences that are slightly better; that of the 2740p felt a little mushy. The 2740p moved to dual pointing devices last year, meaning it has both a pointing stick and touchpad. No laptop, in my opinion, has a better pointing stick technology than Lenovo's ThinkPads. That said, the one on the 2740p is stiff and takes a little getting used to. The touchpad, meanwhile, seems too small for adult hands, but the two pairs of mouse buttons are soft and pleasant to use. HP should get rid of the pointing stick to make room for a bigger touchpad, similar to the one on the Fujitsu T5010.

Features
Just as the design hasn't really changed much, neither did the feature set. Like the Lenovo X200 Tablet and Fujitsu T5010, the 2740p doesn't have an HDMI or Displayport; VGA is your only option unless you purchase the expansion base ($250), which has DisplayPort, eSATA, and DVD burner. It has 3 USB ports and even FireWirea rare commodity nowadays. A SmartCard reader is located on the right of the system, and on the left are the SD and ExpressCard slot. The 2740p doesn't have a built-in optical drive like the Fujitsu T5010, allowing it to keep its slim profile (you can find one in the expansion base). You can find a 2-megapixel Webcam and a nightlight above the screen. Its speakers are the worst of the group.

Performance
The most significant changes are under the hood, as the 2740p now uses standard voltage parts (all the previous versions ran on low-voltage processors). With a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5-540M processor, the 2740p is as powerful as a full-size entertainment laptop. It's faster than the low-voltage Core i7 found in the Lenovo X200 Tablet (now called the X201 Tablet) and on a par with the Core processors found in the Fujitsu T5010 (now the T900). HP also kept heat levels in check, although this may not be the case with the Core i7 configuration (faster processor equals more heat). Since the 2740p will often be used on a forearm or lap, a cool running system speaks tremendous volume.

The 2740p had an overwhelming performance advantage over the Lenovo X200 Tablet and Fujitsu T5010, as the numbers weren't tabulated on an even playing field as I have yet to review the X200 Tablet and the T5010 versions with their Core processor configurations. But based on processor specs alone, both the 2740p and Fujitsu's tablet should have the advantage over Lenovo's low-voltage options. The 2740p ships with 4GB of DDR3 RAM (upgradeable to 8GB) and ships with a standard 5400rpm hard drive (an SSD option is available, too). As expected, the 2740p dominated in tests like PCMark Vantage (6,082), Cinebench R10 (8,672), and video encoding (47 seconds). We'll provide more comparisons as soon as we test the X201 Tablet and the Fujitsu T900.

Battery scores were as impressive as raw speeds, as the 2740p delivered a MobileMark 2007 score of 4 hours 42 minutes with the standard 48WH battery (6-cell). The extended slice battery (6-cell), which works in tandem with the standard one, lasted 10:18. Though the system tacks on extra weight, the additional battery is a huge asset for road warriors, and trumps the options offered by Lenovo and Fujitsu. In comparison, the Lenovo X200 Tablet scored 5:35 with its extended battery (66WH), while the Fujitsu T5010 lasted 3:35 with a 63WH one.

If this review was solely based on performance and battery life, the HP Elitebook 2740p would blow every other convertible tablet out of the water. Transitioning to standard-voltage processors gives performance seekers something to cheer about and the dual batteries delivered unprecedented battery scores for a convertible tablet. Still, HP needs to improve in two areas (namely the user experience and screen luminance) before it can pose a threat to Lenovo's tablet.

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